A quick rant...
Getting the bad news out of the way first, what is this thing with processed meats and pancreatic cancer? Salt, nitrites, preservatives or a cocktail of all three, maybe but processed meat, no! We don’t use any additives in our burgers and sausages and a minimum of nitrites to European organic standards in the bacon. The sausages and burgers are processed in that they are minced – what is wrong with that. Our teeth do it anyway. I wish they would stop being so politically correct and come out and say that it isn’t the meat that might put people at risk but what they do to it. Good food is from good farming, not factories.

Fair Trade veg the Riverford way:
As the media has said, (on a slow news day), the mild weather has bought many winter vegetables forward at an unprecedented pace - result; a glut of leeks and brassicas with growers trying to off load their early windfall at any price. I’ve seen local, non-organic, leeks as low as 85p/kilo, which is great for the shopper but not brilliant for the farmer who, faced with the all too familiar dilemma of anything is better than nothing, is barely covering his costs. It isn’t exactly sustainable. Gluts like this don’t work in our favour because in pursuit of a fair deal for all, Riverford Organic is committed to paying a price agreed in advance for the season to its growers so everyone knows where they stand. In the medium and long term it works to everyone’s advantage but, in the short term, a glut means that independent growers outside the Riverford umbrella have to succumb to the dreaded supply and demand formula and sell their produce for the best price available. That means bonanza time for the public but often the grower would be better off ploughing it back in as a ‘green fertilizer’.

However we have been working with the veg farm to ensure stable, lower prices for staple vegetables. Every little helps and all that! Leeks, potatoes, carrots and peppers are all significantly down in price and will remain so. Organic Seville oranges are 80p a kilo cheaper at £1.95, and will be throughout February. I’ve been making marmalade in the Riverford kitchen and have come to conclusion that the recipe on riverford.co.uk is about as good as it gets. The yields are slightly lower, but less water means that you don’t need as much sugar to make it set so you can really taste the tangy Sevilles. You still get 7-8 jars from a kilo of oranges.